Europe must recapture spirit of enlightenment – or pay the price

THE European Union is running out of stimulating and creative ideas. These days you can find virtually everything on the European marketplace, except ideas on how to govern this enlarged entity consisting of 25 countries.

The broader framework for a societal and economic model capable of inspiring the member states does not exist. The Lisbon Agenda has become a symbol for a great deal of unfinished business and a lack of political will. The heated debate about Turkey threatens to spiral dangerously out of control: Europeans are unable to distinguish between the rationale of the Copenhagen criteria for EU membership and the broader political and strategic framework within which accession negotiations with Ankara can commence.

Dealing with forthcoming decisions in an unexpected – and sometimes even an ad hoc and unprofessional manner – has become the European norm. European vacillation has also cast a shadow over transatlantic relations. The very same Europeans who rose to the occasion after 9/11 to emphasize their identity and external mission have now been silent for months. Where are personalities such as Jacques Derrida and Jürgen Habermas, capable of formulating Europe’s position on the war in Iraq; on Iran, a country that is close to becoming a nuclear power; on Russia, which is beginning to question the validity of democratic standards; and on the US, a partner which is still unwilling to listen to European views? Where is the fundamental debate about our common values and about the internal and external principles which will inspire an EU of 25 member states?

Will the continent of philosophers and thinkers, the birthplace of the Enlightenment, lose the ability to redefine itself and to stimulate its partners with creative ideas and visions? The European intellectual vacuum appears all the more striking in comparison to the US, where a slew of new books devoted to the core issues of societies on both sides of the Atlantic has just been published. Samuel P. Huntington asks his fellow citizens a pointed question: “Who are we?” In foreign policy, Joseph Nye and Robert Kagan reflect on grand strategy. They favour an intelligent combination of hard and soft power that will lead to “smart power”, which may enable American hegemony to survive. Europe’s soft power and values are at the centre of Jeremy Rifkin’s book “The European Dream”. He argues that the European framework could become the blueprint for a revival of the American dream. In the current context it is unusual to read an American defence of Europe’s spirit and strength. Francis Fukuyama sums up the American trauma in Iraq in a work that focuses on nation-building. He argues that one of the most important tasks of nations will be to stabilize and modernize failed states. The question of whether or not one shares all these different views is not at issue. They serve in their thought-provoking and stimulating manner to promote a debate that every society needs if it wishes to develop its own identity and its ability to understand others. This is why the works cited above can only serve as examples. They reinforce the impression that the transatlantic divide in the area of strategic thinking is widening. This manifests itself in three areas: the definition of multilateralism, the definition of nationalism and the use of force in the international arena. If Europe wishes to be a power that is recognizable and respected globally, and not only that of a regional actor, it will have to initiate a comprehensive debate about these three major issues. Europe also needs a discourse on how it sees itself. What are the guidelines for a power that is not defined primarily in economic terms and possesses a strong normative political dimension and spirit? Europeans must realize that the post-modern world no longer accepts a “free-ride mentality”, in particular in the field of foreign and security policy. But before Europe can shift from common positions to common action in the field of foreign affairs, it will have to think carefully about where it stands. In future, the wealth of the foremost nations will depend on their ability to think and for this reason Europe needs to encourage such intellectual potential more than ever.

Annette Heuser is director of the Brussels office of the Bertelsmann Foundation.